Cupcakes
by Kaliu
Summary: What happens when our heroes from Tsubasa Chronicles enter the world of Konoha? Insults are flung, battles are fought, and cupcakes are eaten - but we're not really sure about that last part.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there, I'm Kaliu. This is my first attempt at writing a fanfiction – even though I have read many. My favorite manga has always been Tsubasa RESERVoir chronicles, followed by Naruto, so why not put them together? At least that was my thought ^_^**

**  
I spent a lot of time rewriting and editing to try to make this chapter the best that I could, and I hope that it will attract at least some interest. Also, you only need to have read up to the first couple of volumes of Tsubasa to be up to date with what is happening. Naruto is before the Shippuden series, and you need to have read up to the part past the Chuunin exams and Sasuke has already left.**

**I had a map of Konoha that I was going to use, but FanFiction ate the link. You can find it on my profile, if you are interested.**

**Lastly, I have just one word to say: enjoy.**

**-Kaliu**

"Go Syaoran, give the feather to Sakura! Just run!" Fai yelled over his shoulder as I hesitated, while parrying an ogre twice his size with his staff. I stiff hovered uncertainly near the battle.

"But I can't just leave you, I-"

"Kid, just go! We can take them!" Kurogane snarled while reeling back and beheading an ogre that had attempted to sneak up on him. Its huge axe dropped from the now-limp grip and made a dull _thump _on the ground, while its head rolled to my feet, with the tongue lolling out of his mouth, giving a creepy appearance. I promptly kicked it away, and grabbed a sword lying nearby from another fallen ogre. The ugly creatures were everywhere, all with light green skin and differences varying from horn lengths to the number of eyes. They were fearsome and cruel warriors, and they were doing everything they could to kill us.

I firmly grasped the sword that was in my hands, and looked around for some way I could help. The battle was almost over, but Fai and Kurogane were sure to be tired, and I wasn't about to leave them alone in this.

I spotted Kurogane elegantly exchanging blows with two ogres that both had horns over three feet long. They roared in rage every time Kurogane nimbly dodged their swords, and screamed twice as loud every time they were hit. But there was a third ogre looming nearby with a heavy club in his hands, and an expression of malicious intent. "Here we go!" I murmured, as I began to run at full sprint; and I took a slash at the ogre.

My sword hit with no resistance, and I slashed his torso from shoulder to hip and gave him a roundhouse kick to the head for good measure. His face was an expression of pure shock as he fell to the ground with a loud thud, unconscious. I then looked up, and saw that Kurogane had already slain his two opponents, and was giving me his usual look of disdain for trying to help him. Go figure.

"My God kid," Kurogane said, as he sat down on a nearby rock, exhausted. "Can you not listen to a damn thing I say?"

I pretended to be suddenly interested in my sword, so I would be spared from answering. Kurogane stared at me intently for a couple of seconds more, until he gave up with a "Bah! Kids!"

At that moment, whether by chance or on purpose, the cheering, teasing voice of Fay interrupted the temporary silence.

"Awww, is Kura-tan angry? Why is he angry? Kuro-tannnnnnnnn-"

"Will you shut the hell up?" Kurogane shot back, clearly exasperated.

"But I just worry about your welfare, Kuro-tan. Really."

"Well, I would start worrying about your own welfare if you say that name one more time."

"Kuro-tan, Kuro-tan~"

Absolutely pissed off, Kurogane opened his mouth to start yelling, but at that moment, the relieved voice of Princess Sakura came floating. "Thank goodness you are all alright!" She cried as she ran closer, with Mokona bouncing happily on her head. Kurogane gave one glance at the creature and went back to cleaning his sword while muttering, "Freakin' manjuu bun.."

As Princess Sakura covered the last few feet quickly and went to embrace everyone in turn. Fay happily returned it, while Kurogane stiffened awkwardly. I reddened, as usual.

Mokona, who had jumped onto Fay's shoulder, had stiffened with a faraway look in its eyes.

"Mokona saw… trouble! Big trouble, huge! Syaoran, hurry!" Mokona said, waving its arms around cutely. Kurogane looked like he wanted to flick it off Fay's shoulder.

"What do you mean, Mokona?" Sakura asked curiously.

In response, Mokona pointed out to the North, where a huge cloud of dust was brewing, and in it, _more_ ogres. Reinforcements have arrived, _great_.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake, and it was not from any known presence. All activity stopped, and suddenly, out of nowhere, a booming voice started to say, "You foolssss, ssstealing my fffeatther. You will pay for your crimesss. My army, kill ttthem and leave no ssuriviversss!"

The ogres all simultaneously lifted their swords above their heads and roared a battle cry as they started to charge.

During this time, many things happened at once.

As the ogres ran closer and closer, eyes intent on their prey, several things happened at once. Syaoran grabbed the feather than was hidden in his jacket, and held it in front of Princess Sakura. She smiled apologetically, and accepted the feather. As she put it delicately in front of her chest, the feather released white light, and flew inside of her. Her eyes grew wide, and then closed slowly with the inevitable slumber. As she started to fall, Syaoran caught her.

The ogres were twenty yards away.

Fay and Kurogane both leapt into defensive positions, respectively. Kurogane was grinning his toothy smile, muttering "Hell yeah!" under his breath. Fay looked back at Mokona at his shoulder.

"Are we leaving yet? Because now would be a really convenient time, if you catch my drift." Fay said, lifting his eyebrow.

Ten yards.

Mokona nodded happily; with that, the wind started to blow, and the creature grew a magnificent of wings, and engulfed the party.

Five yards.

The first ogre lifted its sword, and attempted to swing at Fay. He had a clear shot; his mind told him death would come…

However, the sword only hit the sandy earth, and it only succeeded in getting stuck. They were gone.

Everything was silent then; even the ogres, which was a feat within itself. The ogre that attempted to slash at Fay was looking at the sand dumbly, like its brain couldn't comprehend what had happened.

-x-

We were spinning, faster and faster yet I was not dizzy. I was used to this, and I simply clutched the sleeping girl in my arms closer to my chest, for I was afraid of being separated again. I cherished any sort of contact with her. All her smiles melted my heart and I was grateful for anything I could get, for the deal that we made with Yuko was still in place - and it seemed like it would always be. Our past relationship was forgotten in her mind, but that doesn't mean it would fade in mine.

I would make sure of that.

All five of us were in a vacuum now, a place outside of the different worlds with Mokona as our guide. Everything here was a confused mess; it was impossible to navigate. If you went somewhere, it was guaranteed that if you stayed, thirty seconds later the location that it would take you too would change. This place was odd, almost like a being itself. Mokona started to propel forward, and before long, we were being sucked into another world.

-x-

There was a flash, and then we were here. The force of the transfer from world to world was especially strong this time, and all of us went flying in different directions. Fay flew forward, and squished Mokona into the ground, Kurogane landed face-first into the ground, and was now sporting various new scratches, while I landed against a building, still holding onto Princess Sakura. Lastly, Kurogane's sword had apparently separated from him, and it fell to a stop a mere five inches away from my head. We all froze at the sound of the weapon quivering, and we still didn't relax even after the blade had gone still.

As we took a good look around our surrounding, we knew we were yet again in a strange, new place. It was certainly a lot different than any of the other places we had been to. The buildings were of one style, but the shingles were of varying colors that gave the place a friendly feeling to it. To the north were huge mountains of carved faces, which in front of them stood a building that was obviously grander than the others.

Not only were the buildings different, but so were the people. There was no style of dressing, for everyone wore mostly common or extreme outfits. Fishnets for your legs and arms seem to be a popular style here, apparently. Odd.

But we were in luck – no one had apparently notice four humans appear out of nowhere that were semi-armed with an unconscious girl and some strange white and fluffy creature. Either luck was on our side, or these people were just naturally unobservant.

It was not until we had all gotten up when we had noticed a distinct smell that had been there the whole time, but the village's wonders had simply distracted us from it. It was the smell of food, and good food, on that note.

"Damn, that smells good," Kurogane said, licking his lips and attempting to peek behind the wall. In it was a shop with some sort of characters.

"Can you guys read them?" I asked.

Kurogane frowned, and shook his head, while Fay attempted to take a look. Mokona was still perched on his head, and it the process, the creature fell over, and rolled to the feet of a customer.

We all froze, while Kurogane looked like he was trying to strangle air, along with a barely murmured, "Fricking bun, look what you did now!"

I rolled my eyes while Fay was giggling. Mokona didn't look relatively worried, not even when the dog by one of the customers started to sniff the air and throw occasional glances of curiosity at it. But then again, it was hard to tell.

Mokona rolled to a stop at the foot of a boy with extremely blonde hair, blue eyes, and a ridiculous orange jumpsuit. He was slurping down his noodles at the speed of light, at which the boy next to him was looking on with mild disgust on his face.

"Naruto, you pig! Stop eating so much because I'm not paying for all of that!" The boy next to him said, with the dog growling his support. The boy had short, brown hair, black eyes with red triangles pointing down painted on his cheeks. The blonde gulped, and then turned to grin with a big thumbs up.

"Not my fault you lost that bet, Kiba." He taunted, still grinning. He was awfully close to Mokona…

"Gah! That's not fair, there has to be a limit on what you can buy – I'm not going broke for your sake!"

The blonde boy – apparently named Naruto, leaned back in his seat and sighed contently, patting his stomach. "I don't think I can eat anymore," he said grinning, "but I think I can stomach in one more bowl; what do you think Kiba?"

"Hell no!"

"Well I am, believe it!"

And with that, he lifted his foot for more effect and brought it down to the ground while lifting his fist in the air, looking like he had just won the lottery. But his foot landed on a surprisingly familiar white fluffy thing that was attempting to crawl away, and had failed.

Crap, he stepped on Mokona!

Curiously, Naruto tried to set his foot down, but he met resistance, aka Mokona.

"The hell, I think I just stepped in a giant wad of gum," He said, while Kiba snickered next to him. Naruto bent down and was about to grasp Mokona; it seemed like time sped up, for his hand was getting closer and closer…

Behind me, Kurogane smack his head against the wall in aggravation.

**Well. That's the end xD  
I hope you enjoyed my fanfiction – I would very much appreciate it if you could leave a review with your opinions or critiques; I really want to improve as a writer.**

**No flames, please.**

**Until next time! [hopefully] c:**

**-Kaliu**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow – I didn't think so many people liked my story xD I'm very honored to say the least. I'd like to thank everyone that took the time to read my story, leave a review, or add my story to their story/author alert list. You have no idea how much it made my day to look into my email and see all of those new messages 3  
Anywho, I'm sorry this one took a while to come out. I sprained my ankle and got a new hamster, so I was busy to say the least.  
This chapter has a bit more talking in it, and I had a lot of fun writing it! I also forgot to mention that Tsunade is the Hokage, and that Cupcakes is in Syaoran's point of view unless otherwise stated.  
I was also thinking of maybe making it a bit AU and still having Sasuke here even though he had already left. Someone had suggested in the reviews of having Kurogane meet Sasuke – I can't get out of my head xD  
Enjoy!**

I willed time to stop. I wished for some being to come and intervene to get Mokona to safety, but of course, none came.

Naruto's hand reached Mokona, and he gingerly picked the creature up. He still thought he was picking up gum, for he held Mokona with two fingers. Wow.

"Kiba, look at this! This is one hugeass piece of gum, right?" Naruto said to Kiba, grinning for some unknown reason. Kiba looked at him disdainfully.

"You idiot. That's some kind of fat rat or mouse. It's breathing, and it has fur. Gum isn't _furry._"

Naruto looked confused, and his grin fell. He looked at Mokona curiously again, and sniffed it. "Do you think we could barbeque it for Akamaru or something? Akamaru would like it, right boy?!" Naruto said suddenly, waving it in front of the dog. The dog – apparently named Akamaru – had an expression that reflected his masters.

"You've got to be kidding me." Kiba said finally, lifting his eyebrows. "Why don't we put it in your ramen instead if you are so eager for Akamaru to eat it?"

"Bah! No, I only said that because- Gah, never mind! And Akamaru will eat anything, right? Believe it!"

"Just shut up. And give me that!" Kiba shot back, while snatching Mokona from Naruto's grip. He held Mokona by the skin behind its neck, like a tigress might to her cub. Mokona stayed absolutely still and seemed to be holding its breath as Kiba looked it over with his watchful eyes. Akamaru stared intently at it also, until it growled suddenly.

"GrrrGrrar owow Grraaawwwooo." Akamaru barked.

"What's that Akamaru? It smells funny?"

"Grrrrowow."

Kiba sniffed at Mokona again, at which the creature visibly stiffened. "You're right," he said thoughtfully. "It does smell odd-"

"Everything smells odd to you." Naruto muttered.

"Just because you couldn't smell shit if it was right in front of you-"

Naruto was about to reply scathingly when Mokona seemed to have enough of this treatment, and had jumped off of Kiba's hand which was flailing pointlessly as he attempted to catch it. Mokona landed with too much force on the ground, so it tumbled into a forward roll which got it close to the wall we were hiding behind, but not close enough! Kiba leapt out of his seat with Akamaru and Naruto behind him. They were about to grab Mokona again when a figure behind me stepped out of our hiding place…!

I looked at saw it was Fai who had reached down to grab Mokona, put it on his shoulder, and finally turned to see the two boys looking at Fai with interest. Akamaru had jumped onto Kiba's head.

Fai broke into his signature carefree grin to ease out of the sudden silence and gave a little wave. "Hi there," He said. "Sorry about Mokona here – it seems to have a knack for trouble."

I felt another presence appear behind me and looked to see that it was Kurogane. His gaze was focused on the Kiba instead of Mokona, for once. That didn't seem like a good sign, so I opened my mouth to ask, but Kurogane intercepted me with a curt, "I just have a bad feeling about him. From what I've seen this place is very different from ours, and we should tread cautiously from now on."

I nodded, and turned my head back to the other conversation at hand. It seemed like Fai was trying to make peace with the two other boys.

"I just don't see why you come out at such a _convenient_ time, that's all." Kiba fired and crossed his arms, suspicious. Akamaru growled on his head.

Fai gave them a carefree smile and simply replied, "I heard voices here, so I checked it out, and I found Mokona. Why should there be more to that?"

Naruto squinted and looked up at Fai's lanky figure, as if inspecting him. "I think you're lying. And I've never seen you around before – who are you?"

Fai simply laughed and looked out to the side, as if he would find his answer there. While he looked, his eyes caught and held my gaze, and I understood – he wanted us to come out. Fai turned his gaze back to the boys, and said "Now why would I be lying? What is there to lie about?"

"You know what? You're probably just Kakashi testing us, aren't you?" Naruto said boldly.

"Pardon me?" Fai asked politely.

"You heard me-"

As the boy got angrier and surer of his side of the story, I looked at Kurogane and he nodded. We were going in. And we did. But as I look back at this situation later, I think we could have waited instead of charging in so abruptly. Maybe. Who knows?

"Uh, hey there." I said awkwardly, interrupting whatever Naruto was going to say. Kurogane sighed behind me. "We were just, umm, err, just going to.." I faltered. What was our story?! I began to panic.

"We're just travelers here." Kurogane said behind me, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. "All five of us."

So Kurogane was trying to ease out of the tension by not spazzing out. Smart. Even the two boys liked this answer.

"Sooooo, you're not from around here?" Naruto drawled.

"Nope. We only just got here and ah- are very wary of others, as you can imagine." Fai cut in. Naruto only stared.

"You're weird." He finally said, but put his arms behind his head and smiled his signature, sheepish grin. Kiba still gave another glance at Mokona.

"Akamaru and I have never seen a creature like that; what is it?" He asked, almost barked, actually. Akamaru nodded his curiosity – strange.

Fai held out his hand to his head, and let the fluffy creature jump onto it. "This is Mokona," He said, holding it in front of his face. "We don't exactly know what it is – nor what gender. But it can talk."

"Eh? It can talk? Seriously! That's so awesome, believe it!" Naruto said. He then suddenly squinted at Mokona. "Oi! Mokona – that's your name, right? What gender are you? Girl? Boy?"

"Mokona is Mokona! Kyaa~" Mokona squealed, and jumped suddenly onto Naruto's shoulder. Naruto stepped back in surprise, and slipped on a stray wrapper that had been on the ground which resulted in him falling onto his butt in a comical fashion. Kiba burst into laughter beside him while Mokona giggled.

"You fell! You fell! This is one of Mokona's secret 300 techniques – not falling! Hehe!" Mokona said happily, still on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto just lay on the ground for a moment, and then slowly started to get up.

"You know," he said. "I take back anything I said about you. You are a little demon from hell."

Mokona just cocked its head. All was silent for a moment as once again the two parties observed each other not with dislike, but more with a newfound light.

"So, we didn't exactly get your nam-" Kiba started, but he was cut off by a demanding yet squeaky voice.

"Mokona hungry! Is there food for Mokona? Mokona wants food~"

Naruto laughed, his buoyant mood back. "You're hungry, eh? I'm sure all of you are! Here, come to Ichiraku Ramen with us – this place is the best!" He pointed to the little shop that had caught our interest when we first arrived here. As he returned our attention to it, the smell came back and only succeeded in reminding me how hungry I actually was. But the problem was, we didn't have this world's currency. Actually, I'm not sure we even _had_ any money.

"Err, Fai, do we have any… money?" I asked hesitantly. Fai was apparently thinking the same thing for he was digging in one of our bags.

"I don't know, Syaoran." He said, not skipping a beat. "We didn't exactly have much from last time, but it should still be here." He looked around in his bag for a couple of more seconds, before giving up. "Nope, I guess it's lost." Fai said cheerily. He then called out to Kurogane, "Hey! Does Kuro-chi have any?"

Apparently, Kurogane had been spacing out for the last few minutes, but the sound of his name with yet another ridiculous nickname of Fai's seemed to have snapped him back to reality. "GOD DAMMIT," he fumed. "Stop calling me that! ARG."

"But it's so much fun, Kuro-pi! You're reactions are especially amusing!"

Naruto and Kiba had been looking on in confused amusement the whole time; each of them were both debating whether or not to say anything. It seems they had decided on the latter.

Kurogane sighed and leaned against the wall again. "Would someone _please_ make him stop it?"

I laughed at the outspoken thought. I really doubt that someone would be able to make him… Not that I'd want him to. The way Kurogane overreacted every time was what made it never get old.

Naruto and Kiba had stood there awkwardly during our usual exchange until Kiba cleared his throat and said, "So, are you guys coming with us or not?"

"Hell yeah," Kurogane said, suddenly alert. "This is food we're talking about. We are not passing up food."

"Food food! Mokona wants food~"

"Shut up manjuu bun."

"Kurogane is mad because Fai made fun of him. Silly Kuro-chan!" Mokona giggled out again.

"See Kuro-pipi? Someone appreciates my name for you~"

"ARG. Dammit, just shut the hell up and let's eat!" Kurogane said loudly, looking too hungry to care.

"Best idea you've had all day." Naruto muttered. "So come ON, let's just go!"

Everyone agreed at that point and went to each sit on one of the handy stools in Ichiraku Ramen – the order went Fai, Kurogane, me, Kiba (with Mokona between us) and finally Naruto.

The owner came up to us to take our orders – he was an old man with a jolly face. His hair was on the short and balding side, but he was pleasant nonetheless. A pretty brown-haired girl appeared at his side.

"Hey there guys! What can I getcha?" She asked cheerfully.

"The usual, please." Naruto said instantly, grabbing some chopsticks while he was at it. Kiba grumbled next to him.

The girl laughed. "My gosh, it seems you never stop eating! But I'm guessing our ramen can't keep you away, eh?" Naruto laughed himself and nodded his agreement.

"And you?" She asked Kiba. He simply shook his head, and Akamaru whined along with his master. If that dog could talk, they would defiantly finishing each others sentances and annoying everyone around them to death, so I guess we should be thankful that things are the way they are.

The brown-haired waitress nodded and turned to us. "What about you guys?" She asked.

I looked uncertainly at Fai and Kurogane. Fai gave me a look, so I assumed he would take care of it. "Well, we're travelers from a place far away, so we don't exactly have much with us right now. Nor do we have any of your currency." He said sheepishly to the waitress.

"That's alright," A deep, voice suddenly boomed behind our waitress. It was the jolly old-man, who was the owner. "It's actually almost our best and busiest season for selling ramen, so we could always use some extra hands! You'll do especially well, considering you are such unique foreigners!"

I was stunned, to say the least. Fai smiled and Kurogane looked perplexed with his eyebrows raised.

"You can pay off for your meal and more by working at this ramen shop, and making deliveries will let you see the rest of our city. So, what do you say?"

We could only nod.

He laughed at our solemn faces, his voice booming and echoing throughout the alleyways. "Excellent," He said after laughing, rubbing his hands together. "So you're meal is on the house tonight. Please, take whatever you'd like! We can provide you shelter, so no need to worry about that. Oh, and I am Teuchi, and this is my daughter, Ayame. We are the owners, if you haven't noticed yet." Ayame gave a little wave next to him.

"It's very nice to meet you, and we are very grateful for your extreme generosity I managed to get out. "My name is Syaoran, the blonde one is Fai, the one with the black hair is Kurogane, and-"

"And I am Mokona!" Mokona cut it, waving chopsticks in its hand. Fai laughed.

Teuchi took the creatures other hand and shook it. "Never seen anything like you, but it's very nice to meet you all!" He stood up and straightened out. "So, what would you guys like to eat?"

"Ramen. We want ramen. Any kind, you choose. Just hurry. Please." Kurogane said before any of us could open our mouths. Which was good, considering none of us could read their language, except possibly Fai. The smell that came wafting through made my stomach growl.

"You guys will love the food here," Naruto said before diving into his bowl again. He was almost done within a matter of minutes. Kiba sighed, and put his head on the counter. "Yeah, the food is pretty good, I must say. Except right now."

"Becoo syoo pein fo me?" Naruto said with his mouth full.

"The hell? What did you say?"

Naruto swallowed, and repeated, "Because you're paying for me? Hah!"

Akamaru growled. "Ugg, just stop it and finish so we can go home," Kiba mumbled. "It's getting pretty dark.

And it was true, it was. The sun was setting and filling the sky around it with a beautiful light of golden, pink, and orange light. Up above the sky was a deep indigo, and a few clouds were still left, hanging lazily. It was peaceful, with the crickets chirping and the owls hooting. We could really get use to this…

"You know," Fai said suddenly."I have a bad feeling that we forgot something. A really bad feeling."

I frowned. He wasn't the only one, that feeling had been bothering me also; but if I could only put my finger on it. Even Kurogane seemed to be troubled. We were silent, and then…

"Princess Sakura!"

We had left her behind in the alleyway.

**Syaoran is evil! Did anyone notice how he completely just left and forgot about Sakura? :(  
Hehe! Anyways, rate and review! Look for the next chapter within the next week or two – but I think the next one might be later, for I need to organize my thoughts on this story. Sorry it's a little slow right now, but believe me, you'll love where Sakura's feather will be. ;D  
Thank you!  
-Kaliu**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the wait. Blame procrastination + writers block.  
Anyways, this story is a little ooc, if you hadn't noticed. I really doubt Syaoran would forget Sakura in the real manga, and Kurogane should actually be the one that can read the Japanese in Konoha, but I forgot about that until now. Also, I wasn't sure about a couple of things (like, do people in Konoha have TV's?) and as I have not watched Naruto for a while, I am relying on past memories and Google, so if you find something not right, do not hesitate to tell me.  
Not entirely sure how many chapters this series will have. I originally intended at 3-4, but there is just so much I want to happen! You guys also keep reminding me of things I need to do in your reviews, so my list goes up x3 Thank you for that! Well, here is chapter 3; I hope you like it ^_~**

**  
**Kurogane put his head on the counter. "Please tell me this is a joke," he mumbled. I simply stared transfixed at the wall ahead of me, horrified. How could I forget this precious girl, even though we were in the midst of all that chaos? Was she not important enough in my life that she deserved to be forgotten? Was she meant to fade into the dust like anything that got old-

"Syaoran. Stop it." Fai said suddenly, shaking my shoulder and getting into my face. His blue eyes bore into mine, calm in the face of trouble. "Look at me," he insisted. "This isn't your fault; none of this is. It is equally Kurogane's, Mokona's and mine. We are all to blame. _Stop doing that to yourself_."

I blinked, and frowned. How had he known what I was thinking…?

Fai laughed again at the expression on my face. "Oh Syaoran, how easy your face is to read. It's like an open book. Though I must admit, Kuro-rin's face is even easier." Fai said, and laughed again at the growl emitted from the man next to him.

Everyone else around them had been looking on curiously during this exchange. Ayame dropped a pair of chopsticks while Teuchi stared at us, trying to figure out what the heck was going on, and whatever it was, it was traumatic. Naruto was chewing his lip while Kiba looked confused. Akamaru suddenly stood up on Kiba's head and sniffed the air.

"Grawwoo," The puppy said a little sadly.

"What's that boy? You smell a bad mood?" Kiba asked. Akamaru yelped as an affirmative.

"Huh? Bad? What happened?" Naruto demanded, sidling closer to Syaoran. "Did something happen? Huh? Huh?"

Kiba sighed behind him at his friend's obvious rude and pushy attitude. "You don't have to tell him; Naruto's a really nosy person. Take it from me."

"Ah, no, it's nothing of a secret." Fai answered, glancing at me one last time, but my face was impassive. I couldn't forgive myself for doing that to her. "We just had another traveler with us who seems to have gone missing. She was with us in the alleyway in which we heard your voice, but now she seems to be gone." Mokona sadly nodded its agreement to this story while Kurogane looked at Fai with his face seeming to say, 'You lied. Liarliarliar.'

Naruto looked horrified at the news while Kiba was all business with Akamaru looking solemn- well, as solemn as a dog can look like. "Where did you see her last? Please, give me exact, or close to exact."

Fai nodded. "She was with us when we were in the alley. I saw that you had Mokona with you, so I went out to try and get it back. Syaoran and Kurogane stayed back with her for a bit, but then they came out with me. When we came back she was gone."

I stared at Fai, who had fibbed at parts of the story; I was worried that they would not believe our story, that they would question us, but to my surprise they didn't. Teuchi jabbed a pair of chopsticks at us. "So that's it? You're giving up? Go!" The last word was shouted, making all of us jump. "Go and look for her! That is not the way I was taught to live! So go, and go find her if you really call yourselves friends, or comrades." Ignoring the look of incredulity on our faces, he promptly picked up Naruto's finished bowl and walked back to the sink and began cleaning with his back to us. We all slowly turned to look at each other.

I looked around. "So, are you guys going?"

"Hell yeah." Kiba answered, it seemed for us all. His oddly-sharp canines glinted in the darkness, and his eyes seemed to glow. Naruto nodded his affirmative.

"C'mon!" Naruto said, pumping a fist into the air. I took the lead, back to the alleyway. It wasn't far, and we were almost there, so very close…!

And then, a piercing howl echoed through the air. It lasted for a full six seconds before it faded, and even then I could still hear it ringing in my ears until much later. I whipped my head, readying for an attack while Kurogane was for his sword at his side until…

"Shit guys, I gotta go." Kiba growled. "That's my mom."

There was silence for a moment, until Naruto finally asked, "Your mom's a dog? Since when?"

Kiba simply stared and put his face into his palm. "Dumb. Ass. No, she asked Raiga to send a howl to tell me to come home. I gotta go, I think she's pissed."

"Awww, Kiba, can't you stay a bit? Just tell us where the scent leads to!" Naruto whined at Kiba's retreating figure. Kiba shook his head, hands in his pockets.

"I have to go. I'm sorry." And with that, he broke into a sprint back home with Akamaru next to him just as another angry howl ripped out through the air. We all stared at him until we could see him no more. It was almost pitch black now, with the sun almost gone. The moon could also be seen faintly, a crescent light light in the sky. Naruto stared at the wall, when he said dejectly, "Sorry guys, I really think it's too dark to even see anything. I'll tell the Hokage, don't worry, the ANBU will find her. I swear. Just don't sweat it." He gave them one last nod, crouched, and sprang up, jumping onto the roof of the house next to us. His moonlit figure could still be seen as he hopped on the roof from house to house until he too disappeared into the darkness as Kiba had. I stared dejectedly at the spot that Kiba had once stood. Sakura-hime...

"You guys go ahead and eat, I'll check around to see if Sakura left anything behind." Fai told us, going to the alley. He was holding a small light which he had pulled out from his pocket. I was about to ask where he got that, but then shrugged as Kurogane took my arm and marched me to the Ramen Hut, with his stomach growling. As we neared to Ichiraku Ramen to find our dishes ready to be eaten, I only just realized how hungry I really was. Kurogane practically jumped into his seat while grabbing chopsticks of his own and began eating. I sat in my seat and did the same. For a few minutes, the only sound that could be heard was the slurping of us eating ramen, which was delicious if you wanted to know. Kurogane was the first to finish, setting down his bowl contently. "Damn good," He muttered, looking sleepy. I nodded my agreement. I was close to finishing my bowl, and then Fai stepped into the scene.

"She wasn't there." He announced before any of us could form a question at his sudden appearance. "I looked and nothing was left behind. But what I did find," For a moment he paused to dig inside of his traveling bag that he was carrying. I wanted to scream for him to hurry up, just show us what you found, what did you find?!

Finally, Fai took out a single object that he held gingerly between his thumb and forefinger. What he pulled out were a couple pieces of red thread stuck together by an unknown substance.

Kurogane stared. "The hell? You got thread? Yeah, sorry to tell you, but I really don't think that will get us anywhere."

Fai smoothed his hair back, suddenly tired. "Yeah, that's what I figured, but it was the only thing there that I could find. But it smells odd – I can't exactly pinpoint what the scent is."

Kurogane shrugged, and said "Just leave it the way it is now, and seal it somehow so the scent doesn't fade. Give it to dog-boy there and he'll find the scent for you like any faithful hound." He leaned forward. "Say, did his wet dog smell bother any of you? Because I was spending the whole time trying not to take a deep breath in-"

Fai laughed, and took a seat next to him while beginning to eat his own food hungrily. I sat back having finished my own share, and turned to look at Mokona next to me. The fluffy creature was lying on the counter and tipping the remains of the food into its mouth. Its chopsticks stabbed Kurogane in the eye, which resulted in many bellows of curses and what-I'm-going-to-do-to-you's from him. It was nice to simply sit back and relax like this, and slip into old times. But Sakura wasn't here with us to laugh and enjoy the moment – it made it very bittersweet.

Eventually, we all finished our ramen. Mokona was riding on Fai's head in an attempt to get away from the wrath of Kurogane, who was still rubbing his eye and muttering. Fai caught my eye and gave a small, but reassuring smile. "We'll look for her first thing tomorrow Syaoran, don't worry."

I was about to nod my agreement, but the voice of the old man Teuchi interrupted us. "Wha - tomorrow? That cannot be! I had planned that you two would make some deliveries and help clean our shop! A lot of shinobi are leaving for missions tomorrow, so there will be plenty of deliveries for you to make!"

"Personally I prefer miso soup in the morning." Kurogane commented.

"Mokona liked to eat rice cakes at Yuuko's! They were tasty!" Mokona said from Fai's head.

Kurogane raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure no one mistakened _you_ for a rice cake?"

Mokona stuck its tongue out.

Kurogane gave me a look. "No, it was not."

Teuchi looked back and forth at us. Finally, the old man said in a proud tone, "Well, it is very popular. The perfect meal before a mission; cheap, fast, yet delicious – that's our motto!" Another booming laugh emitted from his chest, and he waved us along as he continued to chuckle on the way to his home.

Teuchi and Ayame's home was nothing special, to be honest. Their outside walls were white with red shingles and a tan, wooden door; their home was like all the others with a different color scheme. It seems nothing here was built to stand out.

The old man stopped outside of his door and pulled out of key from a pocket in his clothing, and inserted it into the lock on the door. While the lock turned smoothly, the door made an annoying squeak when opened; that might be a problem if we ever had to run. Teuchi stepped inside of his home, turned on the lights, and beckoned us inside.

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. The walls were painted a pretty sky blue with the floor being composed of the usual tatami mats. On our right there was a green couch that sat facing a TV that even though it was worn and old, it was obviously taken care of. Farther down there was a black table with four chairs around it. To the west, (or left of us since we entered from the south) was where the kitchen stood. The appliances were mostly white with some blue and the dishes were still unclean from the morning's breakfast. The small area was fairly clean aside from that and the fact that there where supplies for the ramen hut spewed out all across the counters and appliances. Extra bowls, chopsticks, and dry ingredient packets were just one of the few things that were lying around. The old man saw their gaze at the mess, and said sheepishly "Sorry about the mess, we never really got around to cleaning them."

"It's quite alright." Fai said smoothly, taking another step into the room. His eyes lingered on the mess – he was probably itching to clean it.

Teuchi nodded. "Okay, follow me then! I will show you were you can sleep." He beckoned them into a hallway that branched out from the kitchen/living room. In the hallway, there were three rooms; two on the left and one on the right. Teuchi stopped in front of one of the rooms on the left.

"Alright! This is a room you can use!" He said. We poked our heads inside. The wall was a plain white with a tatami floor again. There was a small end table with a lamp in one corner and a pile of futons in the other, but otherwise than that the room was pretty much bare. There was one thing that I noticed; there was hardly enough room for one futon on the ground, and the bed was for one person.

"Uh, excuse me, but there is only room for about two people in here. Is there anymore room…?"

Teuchi nodded. "Yep, the last of you will sleep on the couch. Our house is small but we hope you enjoy it nonetheless! I'll get some blankets and a pillow for the couch." With that, the old man went away whistling, and I could have sworn he said something about 'finally getting this place cleaned up' under his breath.

I put it in the back of my mind and turned to Fai and Kurogane. "So, who sleeps where?" I asked them.

Kurogane jabbed his thumb over his shoulder to point at the couch. "I'll sleep there. There is no way I'm sleeping near the manjuu bun and blondie here." Fai grinned at the comment. Kurogane ignored him. "So I'll take the couch, if you don't mind."

Without waiting for a reply, the black-haired man lumbered out of their sight, presumably to the couch where he would be sleeping.

Fai turned to Mokona. "You'll wake him up tomorrow, won't you?"

Mokona giggled, and took its little paw to high five Fai's finger. "Yes! Mokona cannot wait!"

Fai laughed as well. "Alright, I'm counting on you for that! Now, I was wondering…" He quickly turned to the kitchen to see if Teuchi was listening in. He was busy finding blankets for Kurogane, and Ayame just entered through the front door. He turned back to Syaoran and Mokona. "Mokona, can you sense a feather? If you can, do it quickly before any of them come over here."

Mokona nodded, and shut its eyes, concentrating. Its ears started to rise, and it frowned as it tried to locate the aura of Sakura's feather. Several seconds passed by, until finally, the creature opened its eyes. "There is a feather!" It announced. "But it is faint. It is around here, but Mokona is not sure how close. But it is surrounded by something… Mokona can't tell what that is either. Mokona.. Mokona is.. is…"

And Mokona never did actually finish what it wanted to say, for at that moment exhaustion caught up with it, causing it to fall asleep still on Fai's palm.

Fai looked at Mokona for a couple of seconds before turning to Syaoran. "I think it's trying to tell us that we all need to get some sleep." I nodded my agreement.

Together we went back into the room. I started to pull out a futon from the corner and place it next to the bed. Fai looked at the futon, but made no comment as he went to the bed.

Minutes later, we were changed and lying there in the dark, waiting for sleep to come. Or at least I was, for Fai's breathing was slow and deep, and Mokona couldn't be heard at all. The light in the kitchen was still on, and I could hear a muted swear from Kurogane as he bumped into something, or that's what it sounded like from the '… Fricking counter… you should… burn in hell… die in a corner…'

I heard the faucet turn on, and then a couple of gulps as he swallowed it down. There was a dull thump as Kurogane set his glass down, and if I strained my ears hard enough I could hear his very faint footsteps not rustle the tatami mats at all. When he wanted to, Kurogane could be very stealthy. I turned over onto my side, thinking drowsily, 'Kurogane's was a ninja in his old country, could the people here be ninja's also? They are certainly quiet, and can jump pretty high like Naruto did. Also the way that Kiba can speak to Akamaru, I wonder…'

And with that last thought, I finally drifted to sleep. But my dreams didn't linger on the same subject; no, instead they turned to a certain golden-haired girl that made me smile even in my sleep.

x -

This was a nightmare, because I knew it couldn't be anything else.

My mind was torturing me with images of the accursed event which changed all of our lives forever: when Sakura lost her memories. We were both in the ruins, separated by the glass wall. We scrambled out, reaching for each other, but to no avail. All our hands could touch is the barrier between us. I pounded against the wall, yelling Sakura's name over and over. Her face was of fear. But suddenly, the glass wall that had separated us was gone; instead it was replaced by a wall of demons. Their ugly, deformed faces were leering at me, laughing and screaming. I reeled back and tried to look past them, and I could just barely see the golden-brown hair of the princess on the other side. I reeled back and kicked one, for Sakura was in peril, but when my foot collided with the wall, instead of success I felt searing pain. I looked down and saw that my foot was melting. If this wasn't hell, then I don't know what else this could be.

I backed up and tried to rethink my plan, try to think of another tactic. But one of the demons had snuck up on me, and gave me a push into the wall of grinning demons.

My body hit them, and I felt myself losing consciousness. I could no longer feel any pain, it was so intense I could feel nothing at all.

I should have blacked out, but I woke up instead to the smell of a delicious aroma of strawberries and some kind of cake. I sighed, and opened my eyes unwillingly.

The plain white room from yesterday greeted me, I waited a couple of seconds, but it wasn't a dream. I was awake – there were no demons of any sort in here. I looked to Fai's bed, and saw that it was neatly made. I guessed that he was already up, probably helping Teuchi or something. Standing up, I changed into some of our old clothes from my bag. They didn't exactly match the style of this world (defiantly no fishnets) but it was closer than any other time, so I didn't think we would have to buy new ones.

I stepped out of the room and walked to kitchen while still putting my shirt on.

"Syaoran !" Mokona greeted me, waving a spoon. It was sitting on a stool next to Fai, who was apparently cooking pancakes. Ayame and Teuchi were nowhere to be seen.

"It's about time you woke up," Fai greeted me, pausing to look at me from his cooking. His hair was still a little wet, so I assumed he took a shower already.

Mokona pointed at the table. "There is your food Syaoran! Go eat! Go go!" It said seriously. When I laughed at the cute tone it used, Mokona hopped from the stool onto my head and hit me with its spoon. "Mokona said go! GO!"

"Ack! Alright, alright, I'm going! No need to get violent!" I laughed, and reached up to swat it from my head. But Mokona was gone, already sitting on the stool again watching the pancakes cook intently.

I walked over to the table, and saw Kurogane sitting on the edge of the couch. He was looking out the window.

"Hey kid." He greeted me. "That manjuu bun gets weirder every day. You think it has a personality disorder or something?"

I laughed. "I doubt it. I think it just likes to be bossy sometimes."

Kurogane shook his head, while Mokona called to him, "Kuro-pipi! Your food is ready~"

"If I don't come, will you hit me also?"

Mokona sang. "Maybeeeeee."

"Well then, I'm coming. I have a big headache and I don't need you to contribute to it."

Mokona clapped happily.

Within a matter of minutes Fai finished, and we were all sitting at the table eating and laughing. Mokona took the liberty of stealing some food off of Kurogane's plate every time he looked away, and jumped out of the way every time his fist tried to grab Mokona and strangle it.

I turned to Fai, ignoring them for a few moments. "Where are Teuchi and Ayame? And why are you cooking breakfast?"

Fai pointed his fork out past the window, where the roof of the ramen shop could just barely be seen. "They went out and started about half an hour ago after I volunteered to cook breakfast. They asked if one of us could send some to them. They want all of us to be there in about fifteen minutes to help out with the ramen shop. And you know I love to cook," He finished, smiling.

Kurogane cut in before I could reply. "Fifteen minutes? Why didn't you say anything earlier?!"

Fai shrugged. "I forgot. Oh, which reminds me… it was fifteen minutes ten minutes ago. So –"

"We have five minutes." Kurogane deadpanned.

Fai grinned.

We all looked at each other for a moment, before Kurogane shoved the last pancake into his mouth and saying, "Hurry the hell up than!"

The next few minutes were a flurry of activity as everyone attempted to do a variety of activities including getting dressed, cleaned up, and packed for the day.

I was done with my share quickly, and I turned to wait at the door. Fai came next, with his backpack slung over his shoulder and wiping his hands for he had just done the dishes. Ayame will probably be pleased.

Kurogane came last with Mokona, who was carrying more supplies for Ichiraku Ramen. I held open the door while Kurogane shoved half of the items in his hands to Fai, and then we were out the door running.

x -

"You're late!" Teuchi announced as we made it there. It was 10:10 AM, so we were about ten minutes late. Great.

"Yes, we may be late," Fai said. "But we brought pancakes. That should make up for it. Or at least it should."

"Mokona helped make them!"

"Did you fall into the batter?" Ayame asked, coming up to them. "Kidding! But they smell delicious, mmmmm."  
"Hopefully you will find their taste as fulfilling as their scent," Fai said, setting down a plate in front of both Teuchi and Ayame, who both leaned forward appreciatively.

"Thank you very much." Ayame took her plate, and pointed at the wrapper food items on the counter. "Syaoran, I'm going to need you and Kurogane to deliver those. The first one goes to a young shinobi that lives in the house number 7855 with the purple roof. She lives right across from the hospital, so that should not be too big of a problem."

Ayame turned to Kurogane. "And you deliver the other two to the hospital."

"And where is the hospital exactly?" Kurogane asked, already stepping towards the packages.

"It's not a very far walk, just south of here. I'm sure you will find it."

Kurogane grunted in response.

"Come back when you're finished. Fai, you're going to help us clean today. Mokona, you can help with the orders customers will place. Here is a pen and paper."

Mokona nodded seriously, taking the items.

Putting her hands on her hips, Ayame said dramatically, "Well, be off then you two! There is more work to come when you come back. Shoo!"

I paused. "But what about Sakura?"

Ayame's expression softened. "Oh yeah, I forgot that you needed to look for her." She bit her lip. "Be back in about an hour then. I hope you find her."

My expression mirrored hers. "Thank you," I said over my shoulder as Kurogane and I began walking towards the hospital.

Kurogane and I were silent as we walked, taking in the city that we were in. It had a very pleasant and calm aura that we could all get use to.

"This is very much like my country of Nihon." Kurogane commented suddenly, watching a group of young kids practice throwing weapons at a post. I watched them curiously.

"How so?"

"This is a city of ninjas, if you haven't noticed."

"Is it very different from your world?"

"Yes and no in some respects. I'm not sure about all the details, but I know that we both fight to protect." Kurogane stopped as we neared the building that Ayame had been talking about. The hospital was indeed very close to Ichiraku Ramen. I stopped, and looked across the street. Sure enough, the home with the purple roof was there. I turned to say goodbye to Kurogane, but he had already gone in.

Shrugging, I walked over to the house, and knocked on the door.

I waited, but there was no answer. I knocked a couple of more times, but there was still no one home. I tried saying 'Hello?', and I even double-checked to make sure the number on the house was indeed 7855. I stood there at the doorstep for a minute longer before giving up, and placing the warm food by the door. Hopefully they would be back to pick it up.

As I turned, I caught a glimpse into one of the glass windows of the hospital. A medic was leaning over a patient, who was sleeping.

I stopped in my tracks.

That was Sakura that was sleeping there. Sakura was in there, she was okay, she wasn't lost. Sakura, Sakura, Sakura-

"SAKURA!" I wasn't even sure if I yelled that in my head or for the world to hear, but it didn't matter, for I was already running.

**Dundundun! The hospital meet-up!  
I am also assuming that Mokona's range of allowing them to communicate with the locals extends to this length. Bear with me, please.  
Oh, yeah. I really don't care if anyone from Tsubasa/Naruto doesn't eat pancakes for breakfast, because they do now. :] Or cupcakes.  
So yeah; reviews are loved, critiques are awesome and flames are not wanted.  
-Kaliu**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys… so I'm really sorry about not updating for a really long time; a new school year started with all new classes, and I just found that I was not able to keep up with both school work and writing, so I put it off. But I'm back with a new chapter, and that's all that matters =) I would just like to say, thank you for all the comments and Story/Author alerts I have gotten! Seeing them in my email finally got me back into finishing this chapter, so thanks a ton :3  
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and just for the record, I have no plans of abandoning this fic. Please review – your comments fuel my inspiration and motivation!  
Enjoy.  
-Kaliu**

It felt as if everything was moving in slow motion, which was weird since that only seems to happen when you were moments away from death. But as I dropped the food I was supposed to be delivering and started to run in a full-out sprint towards the hospital, I can say that's what it honestly felt like. As I ran, the hospital itself seemed to be moving farther and farther away from me, and my efforts seemed to be for nothing as I could never get any closer. And then life had to be fucked up as a pair of men (or ninja, I thought, remembering from my conversation earlier with Kurogane) fell onto the ground in front of me. They seemed to come from nowhere, and as they straightened up and stood, only one word could be heard going on inside of my head.

_Damn it. Damn it. Damn it._

My legs seemed to move by themselves as I stupidly tried to run around the two ninja blocking my path, for my mind was only on Sakura-hime and her safety. But the shorter of the two ninja moved to block me with lightning-fast speed that left me stopping in my tracks. The show of that skill made me stop and think at what danger I had gotten myself into, and also brought my full attention to the ninja standing in front of me. As I took a good look at them, I wondered why the heck their appearance hadn't set off warning bells in my head in the first place.

The men were both clad in the same uniform of navy and grey, with arm and chest guards. Various pockets could be seen, and from a sharp point sticking out in one I could only assume they were sporting hidden weapons, for nothing more could be distinguished. Both men also had a katana strapped to their backs that was both slimmer and shorter than the one Kurogane had picked up from previous worlds.

Both men also had pale skin, but that seemed to be the only similarity. The man on the left that had moved to block me had gray-black hair in a ponytail on the left. A mask covered his face and identity, and it was similar to the features of a bird with colorful red marks. The man on the right that was slouching slightly had crazy, messy silver hair, with a mask that looked like a dog. His hands were folded across his chest and seemed to twitch every few seconds to a pocket the was rectangular shaped. Odd.

Bird-mask was watching me intently, and I could just make out something in his palm that I could probably guess was a weapon. Crap, if they deemed me dangerous, both of them could easily take me out.

So, I slowly put my palms up in which I hoped was the universal gesture for surrender. And to be honest, it was true. I had no weapons and wished them no harm.

Bird-mask took a step forward, already reaching for his katana. "Do not move."

I froze and slowly lowered my arms.

The white-haired ninja glanced at something behind me, seemingly bored. I used that as a chance to look at Sakura-hime. It frustrated me that I was so close yet so far. Some sort of medic was attending to her, and she seemed to not be in harm's way, at least for now. I took a deep breath and turned my full attention to the ninjas in front of me.

"Who are you?" I asked bravely, newfound courage in me.

Bird-mask stiffened and was about to reply scathingly when dog-mask cut in, twiddling his thumbs. "We are shinobi in service to the ANBU. We protect and fight for this village, among other things."

Obviously, he didn't find me a threat. Actually, he seemed to be a pretty laid-back guy. But the other shinobi seemed irritated.

"It is not your place to be asking questions, boy." He said sharply. "Please state yourself, or we will have to take action."

I expected as much. "My name is Syaoran."

"You are here with others." It wasn't a question.

"Yes." I answered, but nervously now. I decided it might not be the best idea to lie. "There are four others: Mokona, Fai, Kurogane and Sakura."

"What is your purpose here?" The silver-haired man asked lazily.

"We are searching for an item of great importance."

"Will it endanger the village?"

"No." I tried to put as much truth to my voice as possible, but I had no idea if they believed me or not.

"Where are you staying at?" Bird-mask asked.

"Ichiraku Ramen. We are also working for them at the moment."

This answer seemed to surprise them. "Really now?" I heard one of them murmur. Louder, Fox-mask said, "That is interesting to hear, but nevertheless we have some.. _matters_ of great importance that will need to be discussed. We will come by later to Ichiraku Ramen. Be there."

In a _poof!_ of smoke, they were gone. Once the smoke faded, no footprints or evidence of any sort were left that proved that these shinobi even once stood where they did. I took a deep breath and sighed, running my fingers through my hair. I had apparently managed to get out of that situation, for now at least.

The morning sun glared into my eyes as I squinted, trying to see into the hospital. The medic had apparently left, and Sakura-hime was still sleeping peacefully. I was about to take a step forward when a strong hand grabbed my arm, and pulled me roughly over to a shade made by a couple of trees.

"Wha-" I could only say, before the figure cut me off.

"Who were they?" The curt voice of Kurogane asked me.

"Shinobi from this village. They were wondering who I was."

"What else?"

"Nothing. They seemed very interested in the fact that we were staying at Ichiraku Ramen. They will come for us later."

Kurogane groaned.

"We're going to be questioned, and we need to get our answers straight. Did you deliver your package?"

I put a hand behind my head sheepishly. "Well, I kind of saw Sakura-hime and got distracted and then the shinobi came in and then you came to talk to me..."

"Well, hurry the hell up."

I nodded, and ran back to where the package of food was placed by the door, and after a quick inspection I noted in relief that everything was still intact. I picked up the food and attempted yet again to knock on the door, but it seemed like no one was home. I contemplated what to do; I didn't really want to leave the food out as it will get cold or somebody could take it, but what other option is there...

'HEY! You there!' A sharp voice cried. I jumped and looked around, startled. As I turned around, I saw a women with short, black hair marching towards me.

'Are you talking to me?' I asked her, confused.

'Yes, _you_. I don't see anyone else standing by my home; what exactly are you doing here?' She replied, crossing her arms and looking at me expectantly.

I fumbled as I tried to explain myself. 'No! I was just delivering you something!'

Now her eyes narrowed. 'And what exactly would that be? I've never seen _you_ around Konoha.'

Konoha?! I thought excitedly. Is this what this place is called? Interesting... I'll be sure to tell Kurogane later. I cleared my throat and tried to put her at ease - no need for her to call someone from suspicion! "That is true ma'am, we are not from here. My companions and I are currently working at Ichiraku Ramen, and I was told to bring a delivery here. If this is the wrong place then I sincerely apologize."

I held my breath as the women in front of me comprehended my words. A couple of seconds passed before she smiled. "I welcome you to Konoha than!" She said. "Teuchi and Ayame are certainly busy, so I'm sure a couple of extra hands will alleviate some of their workload."

I nodded my agreement, thankful that she believed me. But I noticed that even though there was a smile on her face and she held a friendly, carefree tone, her eyes still appraised me thoughtfully.

I then passed her the package of ramen that I had come to deliver, and she sniffed appreciatively at the warm aroma that it emitted. She laughed as her stomach grumbled. "Thanks again! It was nice to meet you, …?"

"Syaoran."

"Well Syaoran, thank you for the ramen – it smells delicious! Anyway, I'm Shizune, medic and personal assistant to our Hokage. I work at the hospital here, so if you need anything, that's where you can find me."

At the mention of the hospital, I grew excited. "You say you work at the hospital?"

"That is correct. I'm on a short lunch break, at the moment."

I couldn't believe my luck. "Say, Shizune, do you know of anyone named 'Sakura' there?"

Surprise flitted across the shinobi's face. "Sakura?" She asked, looking upon the boy's determined, but worried face. "…Yes, there is a Sakura at the hospital, what-"

"Please, Shizune, is there any way that I could see her?" I asked, almost begging.

"Of course-"

"Thank you. Thank you ever so much. I can't right now, as I have to go back to Ichiraku Ramen, but I'll come by later." I said in a grateful tone, already retreating. Kurogane waited for me by the road. With one last grateful glance at Shizune, I was off, on my way back to Ichiraku, to get back to work. I would have to make it up to Ayame somehow; I was very grateful to her for giving me that hour that I needed to find Sakura.

As I chatted with Kurogane about the day's events, the shinobi, Shizune, stared at my retreating figure - I could feel her gaze upon my back. As I sneaked a glance back to have a look at her expression, she was gone along with the food. Gazing at it now, it looked as if our meeting had never taken place.

As I turned my face back to the road, Kurogane was watching me intently. "What is it?" He asked, already looking around for trouble. I shook my head.

"No, it's nothing like that... I was just thinking about the speed that the people in this town of Konoha seem to have." I said, the town name unfamiliar on my lips. "I could feel that lady, Shizune, watching me as we were walking, but as I turned my head to look at her, she was gone."

Kurogane snorted. "If that's all you were wondering about, you could have just asked me in the first place, kid. By now you should have accepted the fact that wherever we go, there are bound to be individuals with powers we have never even dreamed of - and from what I picked up about this place so far, speed isn't the only thing they have."

"I wonder what other powers they have, then."

Kurogane shrugged. "I don't know, and frankly, I don't want to find out. The best thing we can do is just find the feather and get the hell outta here before they have a chance to show us."

I nodded my agreement, and it was silent for a couple of minutes as we both were in our own separate trains of thought. The only sound that could be heard was the scraping of our boots along the dirt road.

I took this moment to take a quick glance around at the surroundings around me. I could smell the delicious aroma of fresh baked loaves, the sound of children playing, the tinkering of coins as customers purchased goods - if I closed my eyes, for a moment, it felt like home. Home... that's a place that has almost lost meaning to me, and ever since Sakura lost her memories, nothing has ever been the same. Now as we go from world to world, I feel like I don't have a place to call home anymore. The only thing left to do is to save Sakura, and-

"We're almost there." Kurogane noted, startling me out of my reverie. I blinked, confused for a couple of seconds before I understood what he was saying.

"Ah, yes we are!" I finally noticed the familiar trees, and as we turned the corner, the now-familiar banner greeted us. Thankfully, those shinobi that had promised to meet us later were there yet, so we still had time to plan our story. I had hoped that by working at this ramen hut, we might be able to get a look at some of the town's inhabitants and try to figure out what we were up against. I mentioned this to Kurogane, who gave me a rare look of approval.

"Yeah, that's good thinking kid - I like that." He praised me. "Now all we have left to do is to get the story out to Fai and manjuu bun, and dammit, they better have not screwed up anything while we were gone."

I sighed as we were walking closer. "Come on, give Fai some credit – he's got a pretty good instinct for staying out of trouble."

Kurogane simply shrugged in response, and at that moment, Teuchi noticed us.

"Ahoy there!" The old man yelled, waving us over. "How did the deliveries go? No trouble?"

I nodded. "Everything went fine, but I couldn't find Shizune at first, and everything went smoothly for Kurogane." Kurogane gave a tch! of annoyance for speaking for him, but I knew he wasn't really mad as we had to inform Fai and Mokona about our situation as soon as possible.

"That is great to hear! Fai and Mokona have been a great help to us, but business is booming! Ayame will have your next deliveries ready soon, so why don't you two rest up for a bit while she gets them ready? Get to it!"

"Thank you sir, we will." I said to Teuchi, who went back to work. Kurogane and I proceeded inside to the kitchen, where a flurry of activity was taking place. Fai was in the corner, preparing noodles for the ramen, while Ayame worked on the other side of the small room, her hands expertly packing the boxes. Mokona sat next to Fai, stirring a medium sized pot, and occasionally tasting the substance that it was cooking.

At the sound of our arrival, Ayame whipped her head back to greet us. "Oh! You're back! This is great; I have more deliveries for you. I'll have them ready in a sec."

I nodded my thanks but she didn't see as she went back straight to her work. Shrugging, I stepped over to Fai, with Kurogane following reluctantly behind me.

"Hey Fai," I greeted him. He turned around.

"Syaoran! Kuro-pippi! Mokona and I missed you! Isn't that right, Mokona?"

"The creature paused from its work to reply. "Yes," It said mournfully. "Mokona really missed Kuro-tan. It not fun without youuuu~!"

Kurogane's hand twitched. Fai laughed.

"Aww, look Mokona-chan! I think he wants to hug you!"

"Kuro-chan wants to hug me?!"

"No!" The black-haired man growled.

"I can't hear you!" Mokona sang. More quickly than I would have thought possible, Mokona dropped the spoon and catapulted off the counter landing on Kurogane's face, and a commotion ensued between the two.

I sidled over closer to Fai. "Mokona seems to enjoy being a distraction."

Fai nodded, draining noodles from the boiling water. "They sure know how to make sure someone isn't overheard. Now what was it that you wanted to tell me?"

The story spilled out from my lips like a waterfall. I was rushing to get all the important details in during the small amount of time we had, as Kurogane and Mokona couldn't go on forever.

Fair listened intently during my story, and his carefree expression faded to one of seriousness.

"So these 'ninja men'" Fai quoted, while getting the water ready for the next batch of noodles, "Are coming to see us later, yes?"

"Yep. They didn't say when though, but I could hazard a guess that it would be sometime in the evening, but we need to get our story straight.

"That we do." Fai said, tapping a finger on his chin, thinking. From his stance, he looked to be the epitome of thoughtfulness.

As he reached onto an upper shelve to grab a box of noodles, he finally spoke. "It's bad timing that they happened to come to you today, and their visit makes things a little bit difficult."

"I know. Do you think there is any chance we could all slip away at one point today?"

"There will be a lunch break, but that's later in the day. I'm sure we can pull off offering to get more supplies from the house, but that will be maybe another hour or two away – I don't know. So just get the deliveries done and-

"Syaoran! Kurogane! The packages are ready!" Ayame called, abruptly ending our conversation. It was our time to go.

Mokona seemed to appear out of nowhere as it climbed back onto the counter, and returned to stirring it's soup – and it was wearing a cheeky smile. Kurogane stalked out of the room, grabbing the package Ayame held out to him. I grabbed my own, and listened to her directions.

"Now Syaoran, both of your packages will be going to the Aburame Clan, which is just straight down the road – you can't miss it. Meanwhile, Kurogane's package shall be going to the Yamanaka Clan, and to get there you would cross over to the road closest to the hospital, and continue straight down that main road. Again, it's not that hard to find. Now be off with you, and be sure to tell Kurogane the instructions! I'm sure he's a little bit sulky after that scuffle with Mokona-chan." Mokona giggled from the counter, while Ayame blew the creature a kiss, and sighed. "I do love that Mokona, it's so adorable! Anyway, good luck!"

"Thank you, Ayame!" I gave a small bow and walked over to Kurogane, who waited on the road. Teuchi gave us a wave.

"Well?" He demanded, with his arms crossed, leaning against a tree. I relayed the instructions that Ayame had given me.

"Road closest to the hospital, and continue straight down." He repeated. "Alright, I got it. I'll stop by any shops to see if I can find anything else out. Later, kid."

"Later." I said, and started walking down the seemingly endless road in which my destination lay.

**Well, that's that! Probably not the most exciting way to leave off, but I promise you, there will be more surprises :D So, it's 11:30pm, I'm tired, and I wanted to have this chapter out tonight so I completely forgot what I was going to say here, oh well.  
Anyway, as usual, comments are loved, critiques are welcome, and flames are not wanted. Thanks again!  
-Kaliu**


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